Rip Hamilton still has it.
"Shooters shoot!"
— ESPN (@espn) February 24, 2024
Rip Hamilton nailed a halfcourt shot in front of UConn fans @CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/jM8ntQRYfO
The three-time NBA All-Star and former UConn guard drained a half-court shot in front of Huskies fans during an appearance on ESPN's "College GameDay" Saturday morning.
Hamilton, who won the 2004 NBA championship as a member of the Pistons, was a star at UConn from the 1996-97 season through 1998-99.
He was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 1999 after leading the Huskies to their first NCAA championship in program history.
Since then, UConn's been arguably the preeminent program in college basketball; its five national titles since 1999 are the most in that span.
The Huskies were the unanimous No. 1 team in the country in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll as they vie to become the first repeat national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
Per ESPNBet, Connecticut (+400) is the favorite to win this year's tournament. ESPN's Joe Lunardi projects UConn as a 1-seed in the East Region, where it would potentially face last season's tournament darling, the Florida Atlantic Owls, in the second round, as well as San Diego State in the Sweet 16, which would be a rematch of last year's final.
UConn (24-3, 14-2 in Big East) had a 14-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday with an 85-66 loss at No. 15 Creighton (20-7, 11-5 in Big East).
That's one of the few things to have gone wrong for the Huskies this season.
As Hamilton reminded us on Saturday, they usually don't miss.
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